For The Love Of Family
by mooney-996
Summary: For years I have been searching for you. I have to let you know who I am and keep my promise to you that I made years ago. I am so close to finding you now and I am not letting that go. I will find you...my baby brother. Please read, comment, follow, PM whatever! Will love to know what you think :D
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the idea of Fairy Tail nor it's characters since I sadly am not Hiro Mashima! However, I do own the idea of Nozomi. She is my OC!** (This disclaimer is for the whole story!)

"We need to get out of here now!"

"Run Nozomi run! Don't look back!"

"Mama! Papa!"

"Quick! Get out of there! Protect him! Grab him and go!"

"Mama! Papa no!"

"We love you darling. Remember that. We love you both"

The smell of burning fills my nose and I awaken from my daydream, feeling a tear run down my face. It's been years since I have seen you. I promised you that I would protect you and I haven't kept it. To this day I am still looking for you. I need to see you one last time. To know that you are safe. To tell you how sorry I am for what happened to you. To show you who I really am. For years I thought that you were dead. I cried for so long that I never thought the tears would end. I thought that I had failed my life-long mission to find you and reveal myself to you.

But now I have been given hope. There were tales of a very powerful mage who is known to be reckless but be one of the most powerful mages in his guild. I saw your face on screens at the Grand Master Games and I collapsed to my knees in shock. I thought I had found you over 7 years before to only be told that you had missing, feared dead along with more than half of your guild members. I had almost died that day from shock but I still swore that I would find your body since I refused to believe that you were dead. As soon as I saw you on those screens I was ecstatic! My nightmare was over. You were alive! I had never been so happy in my life. I knew where you were. You were happy. I still promised myself that I would tell you who I was to you, so I set out again to find you once more.

I just had to see you for myself. To confirm that you are real and not just someone who looks like you.

So here I am walking through the town of Magnolia. I got told that you live here so I am now on my way to find you. I am holding the only picture I have of you in my hand like it is my lifeline. I am holding you in my arms. You were only a baby but your face was so recognisable even to this day. I just knew that it was you.

I heard that you were raised by a dragon. I was mortified at the thought but now I see that it has turned you into a wonderful man. No wonder I couldn't find you for so long. I heard so many story about you and I always swell with pride. You are practically legendary!

Walking through the streets of Magnolia, I can see people laughing, joking, having fun. This looks like a great place to live. I am so happy that you have found somewhere great to live. I see small families walking around in their own world and I am jealous. I wish Mama and Papa were here. Then we could have been like that. All four of us together just like we should have been before….he destroyed it all. Because of him, that is how we both came into our powers. Well… it's how I discovered mine at least. I know that we both have similar powers from what I saw on the Grand Master Games and I think it was where we both got it from. Mama and Papa never showed their magic to us, if they had any at all! All I know is that…..he did.

I follow a sign that takes me to where I need to go. I take one look on the outside of the building and I stunned! It's beautiful! No wonder you like going here! I can hear the sound of laughter and cheering coming from the building and it seems very welcoming.

My stomach lurches at the fact that you may be in here. For years I have been trying to work out what I would say to you if I ever saw you. To this day I still don't know. I don't know what you are like. I only know just what I have seen on the Grand Master Games when you were fighting. My biggest fear is… will you accept me?

My baby brother…

* * *

Welcome all to the first chapter of 'For The Love Of Family'. This is a side project that I am working on while writing another Fairy Tail fanfic called 'The Mages'. Unlike 'The Mages' where the characters are human, these guys actually have their powers! The main character in this fanfic is an original character called Nozomi. All of this fanfic will be in her POV except from one chapter which will be later on. I will upload one chapter a week just like with 'The Mages'! This story is complete and is only 10 chapters long so I hope you enjoy it!

mooney-996 xx

p.s. who do you think her baby brother is?


	2. Chapter 2

I follow the sound of laughing and cheering and I come to a set of large wooden doors that are wide open. I keep my distance as I watch inside, hoping I can get someone's attention. I watch in amusement as a half naked man is currently running away from a girl with blue curly hair, a girl with red hair with armour on is pointing a sword at some large white haired male and a small blue haired girl is sitting down reading a book with a large black haired male with piercings everywhere! Brother! What sort of people do you hang out with?

I take a look around and I can not seem to see you, so I take a deep breath in and I start walking into the guild.

I seem to have stepped louder than I thought, or they have really good hearing because suddenly everyone stops to look at me. I immediately blush bright red and turn my body to the side holding my hands together in embarrassment. This is really freaky. How did they know I was here? Why did they suddenly stop to look at me at once!

I look around to see all of the people that I had observed before. The shirtless man, the blue haired girl now caught up with him grabbing his arm, the girl in the armour, the white haired man and the blue haired girl and her black haired friend. They had all stopped to look at me as if to size me up! The girl in the armour gives me a sly grin and I am immediately on my guard with her. Something about her isn't right! I fiddle with my black jacket that I am wearing to try and work out what to say.

But before I can bring myself to say anything, a small grey-haired man wearing an oversized beige coat with lined white fur comes up in front of everyone to speak to me directly.

"Who are you?" He asks sternly

I shudder as I feel his magical power. I know that I am in a room of mages, but his power seems to be above everyone else's. This man is very powerful! "I am Nozomi Sir" I mutter.

The old man looks at me with concern. "What can we help you with?"

Here it is. I am hopefully about to get the help to see him again. "I-I….." They all look at me patiently as I try to speak "I am looking for my younger brother. I need your help in finding him"

The old man's posture calms down and so does everyone else's. The old man gives me a smile and hold out a gestured hand to a table. "Come sit down so we can get all of the right details." Then he turns the rest of the people standing there "Alright you brats! Back to as you were! Erza, Gray. I'll need you for this one" I look over to the shirtless man and the girl in armour as they nod their heads and walk with me to the gestured table.

Just before we sit down to the table, the girl opens her hand out for me to shake. "I am Erza Scarlet and this is Gray Fullbuster. The man you spoke to earlier is our Master of the guild" She says gesturing to Gray who simply nods.

I shake her hand in response "I am Nozomi. It's nice to meet you. Thank you for your help."

"That's why Fairy Tail is here. So tell us about your brother."

I look down frowning as I hold the picture in both of my hands tight on the table. I look at the picture of my younger brother and I start to retell my story for what seems the thousandth time to unknown strangers.

"My brother and I used to live a small village outside of Fiore with our Mama and Papa. Everyone was happy until our village was suddenly set on fire and was bombarded. We had no hope so we ran for our lives. I was about 5, my brother was just a baby. As we were running, I grabbed him and held on tight looking for Mama and Papa. I managed to run outside with him and as I turned away I saw Mama and Papa were trapped in our house. I screamed at them, wanting to help them but there was nothing that I could do."

I stopped as the memories were coming back to haunt me. Tears were slowing streaking down my face as I was reliving my nightmare once more.

"I watched as they burned alive screaming for them to come out. Everytime I tried to go near them to help I remembered that I was holding onto my brother who was crying. I tried to comfort him as I watched our parents die. Before the fire died out they were screaming at me to run away. To take him and run. Before I could a man was standing there. He was a large black shadow and I was terrified. I couldn't run anywhere. I tried to move but I was too petrified.

In a way of protecting myself and my brother I curled into a ball holding onto my brother to make sure that I would get the brunt of whatever was coming. I closed my eyes and I felt this surge of energy coming from me…." I looked up to see more people had stopped and were now listening to my story. The tears were flowing heavily now as I reached the climax of the story.

"I didn't know that I was a mage at this point. Mama and Papa never showed any signs of our family knowing magic, but as I sat there huddled over my brother whispering to him that everything will be alright and that I would protect him in whatever way that I could, this energy burst out of me, I saw a magic circle surround us both and a dome of what looked like fire escalated from me and it surged forward, towards that dark shadow knocking him out."

"I had used a lot of energy and when I had calmed down, I saw that my brother was fine. I saw the house where we lived burning to the ground and knowing that my Mama and Papa were in there dead, I collapsed from exhaustion and shock. I woke up to find the village completely burnt down and my brother missing. I have never seen him since but I was convinced that he was still alive so ever since I have been looking for him."

I looked up and saw a man who I vaguely recognised from the last time I visited here. He looked at me and his eyes widened with shock, recognising who I am and why I am here. But he let carry on my story for everyone to hear.

"I had heard rumours of a boy that was raised by a dragon. No mention of a previous family, only that he had a specific coloured hair. That hair happened to be the same colour as my brother's. I saw pictures in Wizards Weekly with this man in it and he looks like how my brother would if he had grown up. I actually came here about 7 or 8 years ago hoping to meet the man who I was convinced was my brother but when I arrived, I was told that he was said to be missing, feared dead along with half of his guild" Many of the guild members gasped, recollecting when that would have been.

"My brother would have been 17 when he was deemed lost. I had lost my life's mission to find him. That is….until the Grand Master Games. I saw his picture again on the screens and I knew this time that I had found him. I have spent over 24 years looking for him and I know now that I have found him. He is a mage in Fairy Tail and I need your help with meeting him."

"So do you have a name?" Gray asks. I look at the picture in my hands and I hand it over to him.

"This is the only picture that I have of him. I found it in our house after the fire went out." Gray takes a hold of the picture and both him and Erza gasp in shock. They then look at each other, nod their heads as if to agree on something and then look at me.

"We think we know who this is, but we need a name to make sure you are who we think you are."

"My name is Nozomi and my brother's name…." Here goes nothing.

"…is Natsu." 

* * *

There you go! Who of you worked it out before reading this and got it right?! Thank you so much for reading this! This story has taken me over a year to write so I hope that I dont disappoint!

I will be uploading a new chapter every monday! Please comment, review, follow, etc etc and thank you again for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

The whole guild take a sharp gasp as it all sinks in. Clearly they know Natsu but did not know about me.

"Looking at that picture and looking at you now, I can see it. Although you have different coloured hair" Erza points out.

I nod "I got the red hair from my Papa and Natsu got the pink hair from Mama."

There is a pause before I speak again. I am leaning forward pleading this time. I can not afford to be led down another fake lead for my brother.

"Please tell me that you know where to find him."

The two mages look at me with certainty in their eyes.

"He is on a mission right now but he will be back by this afternoon. You can stay here if you want and we can tell you about his life here." Erza offers.

My heart leaps in my chest "Really?"

Gray smiles "Of course. We both grew up with Natsu. We can tell you anything you want to know."

My tears start anew as I lean over across the table and unconsciously grab Erza and Gray into a hug. "Oh wow. Thank you! Thank you so much! I can't believe that I have found him after so long! Thank you so much! Thank you for giving him what I couldn't. Thank you for…..giving him a family."

A loud bang is suddenly heard from the entrance of the guild. We all turn our heads to see a teenage male with pink spiky hair and a blue exceed flying next to him kick down the front doors of the guild. I see him grin widely as he walks stands at the entrance.

"I'm back!" I hear from the pink haired male and I see Gray roll his eyes beside me as everyone in the guild cheers in response. This must be his usual thing that he does.

As I take in more of the male's features, my insides start to turn. My eyes turn to shock as I realise who this person is. I am finally seeing him in the flesh after so many years. I just watch him as he walks up to Erza and Gray.

"Hey flame-brain. You're home early" Gray remarks

"Yeah. It was nothing! I finished the job in under an hour!"

"Aye" said the blue exceed who was now rested on his shoulder.

"Where's Luce?" Natsu asks

"She'll probably be in her apartment. She hasn't taken a job yet" Erza replies. Natsu just nods his head and turns on his heel to go back outside but he stops and moves his head upwards. I'm currently standing behind Erza just watching everything going on. Given the fact that I am quite small I am well hidden behind Erza but I am peeping out enough to get a good view of everything going on.

I watch as Natsu seems to be sniffing the air. "Is there someone new here?" I am shocked. He can tell that by sniffing the air?! Oh well. Here goes nothing. Before anyone can speak, I rack up the courage and I cough to give myself away making Erza move aside so I am in full view. I am still in shock watching Natsu is awe as he stands cautiously in front of me as if he is about to attack me. I stand on my back foot, my many years of previous fighting training coming into play as I am ready to make a move away from his path if anything happens.

"Natsu. This is Nozomi." Erza says introducing me.

"Nozomi is here with a request" Gray continues. Natsu immediately calms down and removes himself from his fighting stance and puts his hand behind his head, grinning widely to me.

"Hi Nozomi! What's the request?" Natsu asks. I try to speak but words fail me. I look to Erza and Gray for help, hoping that they realise how difficult this is for me. I am rooted to the spot staring like a deer in headlights at Natsu scared that what I say may make him run away from me.

I catch eyes with Gray and he nods agreeing to be the one to speak. "Nozomi lost her brother 24 years ago and needs our help with finding him."

Natsu's eyes go wide "24 years? Why do you need help after so long? Why not sooner?"

I watch as Gray starts to speak but I put my hand on his arm to silence. He should not be speaking for me.

"I thought that I had found him but the trail was a dead end because he was deemed dead from people that knew him. Then I discovered he was alive again at The Grand Master Games and I have been on the look out every since." There. That wasn't so hard. I just need to man up and actually say that it is him now!

Natsu just nods his head taking the information in. He smiles again "That's great! I'm all fired up! Where are we going?"

"We don't need to go anywhere Natsu" Erza says

"Nani?" Natsu says in confusion.

"My brother is part of this guild." I say. That's it. I'm getting closer. Now I just need to come out with it.

"Excellent! Who is it!"

I stare at him with sheer fear. I know that Gray and Erza want to say something but I can tell that they respect the fact that I need to be the one to say it.

After a long pause, I feel Erza put her armoured hand on my shoulder providing me with confidence.

This is it.

This is the moment I have been rehearsing in my head for 24 years.

This is the moment where my life mission has finally reached it's goal.

"It's you…..Natsu"

* * *

Natsu finally knows! What do you guys think? Now the real story can finally begin! Will Natsu accept Nozomi as his sister? Will she be able to be okay now that she has found him? All to com ein next weeks chapter :D thank you again for reading this fanfic! Love to you all!


	4. Chapter 4

"WHAT!"

I am met with enlarged white eyes and open mouths from both Natsu and the exceed next to him.

"N..nat…su is your brother?" the exceed asks. I nod as I look down at the floor embarrassed by their reactions. I understand that they would be shocked but I didn't think that this would happen.

"Natsu" Gray starts speaking directly to Natsu which seems to calm him down "Nozomi has been looking for you for 24 years. She came here just after we went to the S-Class exams and fought Acnologia. She was told that we were all feared dead so she stopped looking for you."

I try my best to continue Gray's words but all that comes out is a whisper, which everyone still manages to somehow hear. "I finally saw you again on Lacrima-vision at the Grand Master Games after hearing about a rumour that the people feared dead from Fairytail had come back. I saw your face during one of your fights and I knew that it was you. I knew that you were the brother that I had lost all of those years ago."

I look up to see him looking at me with interest. I decide to take a bold move and show him the photo of us as children. He cocks his head to the side looking at the picture and then at me, grinning widely.

"Why does that kid look like me?" Natsu asks pointing at the younger version of himself.

Gray puts his head in his hands and mutters 'baka' while I silently laugh to myself. "It's you Natsu when you was little. I'm the one holding you in the picture"

He looks between me and the picture in his hands making the connection between us both and the picture and smiles after a minute or so.

"I now have more nakama!" He says which startles us all.

"What?" I ask

"Everyone here is my nakama and you say that you are my sister so that makes you my nakama!"

I am stunned into silence by his words. Gray standing next to me mutters "baka" while shaking his head as I silently agree with him. Can he really be so accepting so quickly?

"Natsu…"I start…. but I just don't have the words. I feel the tears flow freely from my eyes as the realisation that all that I have been living for has finally come true. My long lost brother is here, right in front of me. Plus he is accepting me straight away!

"I'm so happy for you both!" Erza shouts out with tears falling down her eyes. I look around and I realise that the rest of the guild had formed a small circle around us and had been listening the whole time. They were all in tears and I cry with them.

Natsu looks at me concerned. "Why are you crying?"

I giggle "I'm happy Natsu"

He looks even more confused "Why would you cry when you are happy? You cry when you are sad."

And I can't take it any longer. I lunge for him and envelope him in a tight hug while he just stands there still, not quite sure what to do with himself. I let go as I start to sob, letting go 24 years of heartache and wonder of whether I would find my brother again. Natsu just stands there letting me cry on his open navy vest and I feel him slowly move his position to put his hand on my back to comfort me and pull me closer in the hug.

We stand there for Mavis knows how long as I let all of my emotions out. When I finally stop crying, I mutter into his chest "Without you here I didn't feel right. I felt hollow. Now I feel complete again. I've missed you so much baby brother." I pull away from his chest and grab his hands, my mood changing to excitement. "I have so much to tell you and I want to hear everything about you!"

I pull him onto a nearby bench and I realise that the crowd had dispersed. I think they must have realised that we needed our own space and thought it would be wise to give it. Even Gray and Erza are on the other side of the room talking to a blonde girl and a small dark blue-haired girl to give us space.

"You must have a lot of questions. Ask me anything you like" I start

Natsu um's and ah's for a while for thinking up his first question. It reminds me of when he used to do that as a baby and it made me giggle silently to myself. He asked me about our parents and how we got separated. I told him everything that I knew and despite the fact that it was a lot to take in, he just accepted it.

"Are you a mage like me?" He asked after I explained my story. I nod.

"What magic do you use?"

"Because of what happened to us when we were little, I developed fire magic." I say. Natsu looks back like he is ecstatic.

"Just like me! I'm a fire dragon slayer! Igneel taught me everything I know!"

I look back at him confused. "Natsu… we both developed our fire magic because the fire that burnt our village down was filled with magical properties and we ingested it. I guessed you would be a fire type mage of some sort but how did you learn fire dragon slayer magic? "

"I was raised by my Dad Igneel. He is a fire dragon and the king of dragons. He found me as a baby and raised me to learn dragon slayer magic. Since he was a fire dragon, I learnt fire dragon slayer magic." Wow no wonder I didn't find you Natsu!

He carries on telling me about his life with his adopted Papa with happiness and pride in his voice and I am so amazed by how cool it is to have a brother raised by dragons and to learn a secret magic art! I'm also relieved that Natsu was not left to fend for himself. That thought plagued me for years not knowing whether he was on his own. I had heard about dragons throughout my travels so it didn't surprise me to know that Natsu was a dragon slayer. I even knew of his power when I watched him at the Grand Master Games! I winced however when Natsu described Igneel as his Dad. Obviously I knew our real Papa but Natsu wouldn't remember either Mama or Papa, so it sounded like Papa was being replaced somehow to me.

"So are you in a guild too?" Natsu eventually asks.

I shake my head. "I spent all of my time wandering looking for new clues to finding you."

Natsu looks me with a sad expression, but then lights up again. "Why don't you join here?"

"What?" I ask shocked.

Natsu grins broadly at me. "Why not. I'm from Fairytail and it would be amazing to have my sister here too!"

"I don't know…" I say concerned

"Oh come on!" I heard Gray say as he walking towards us.

"It would be great to have you as part of Fairytail. Family should always be together" Erza stated. The blonde girl they were talking to earlier was next to her and nodded her head in agreement.

"You're exactly right Erza" I heard and I followed the mass of heads moving to look at a small man standing between Erza and Gray.

"Gii-chan" I heard Natsu say.

"Gii-chan?" I ask. He has adopted a Grandpa? And he has a dragon for a Papa? This is too weird.

"Master. This is Nozomi. She is Natsu's biological sister" Erza says introducing me. "Nozomi, this is Master Makarov. He is the master of our guild."

I smile and shake his outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you"

He smiles back at me. "So. I hear that you want to join Fairytail?" I look nervously around expressing my concern.

I blush. "I would love to…."

"Great!" He says interrupting me. "Go over to the counter and ask for Mirajane. She will sort you out with your guildmark."

Wait? Guildmark? I look at everyone who is showing me their guildmarks. I see the mark of Fairytail in all different colours on different sections of people's bodies. I looked over to Natsu who was showing me his bright red guildmark on his upper arm.

"Does it hurt?" I ask.

Everyone looks at me confused. "I've never been to a guild before." I explain

Natsu grins "No it doesn't hurt. Come on! Let's get you your guildmark!" He grabs me by the hand and drags me over to the counter where a white haired woman in a red dress meets me. She sees my scared expression and giggles.

"Natsu. It's your sister's choice if she wants to join." She turns to me "Do you?"

I look over nervously to Natsu who is beaming at me with the prospect of me joining. Knowing that I will do anything to see my brother smile like that all of the time I nodded my head. Natsu cheers along with the rest of the guild frightening me.

Mirajane laughs again. "Where would you like your guildmark and what colour would you like?"

I think about this for a while. "Can I get a red one like my brother on my left wrist" I hold up the inside of my left wrist to indicate what I meant." With that Mirajane goes away and comes back with a large stamp. She tells me to hold my wrist still and she places the stamp on it. A small light flashes and she removes the stamp revealing my brand new bright red guild mark! I am filled with so much elation that I start to cry again. Natsu and Mirajane just laughs as I stare at my guildmark.

The next thing I see is Natsu raising his arm in the air, showing me the back of his hand with his pointer finger and thumb out while the rest are clasped. It looks like a backwards 'L' to me, but no one seems to notice the weird gesture and the rest of the guild do it too. It must be their sign or something.

"Welcome to Fairytail sis" Natsu says and with that, my stomach flips, tears start to fall and I raise my newly stamped arm in the arm copying their hand gesture!

I am home.

* * *

Nozomi is part of FairyTail! What do you all think? I was going to give Nozomi the same guildmark as Natsu but I thought it should be different so i chose where I have a tattoo myself :D I know that Natsu accepted her very quickly but tbh Natsu is like that anyway in the manga/ anime about anything. Thank you all for reading again and keeping up with this! The adventure is just beginning! Don't forget to review/comment/follow/PM/ whatever for this story! Love to all :D


	5. Chapter 5

For the next few weeks Natsu and the others try and tell me everything that they can about their life in Fairytail. It is unbelievable the things that my brother and his friends have done! Throughout the weeks I am introduced to more members of Fairytail and I quickly settle into Team Natsu learning about everyone's different abilities. The guys explained to me everything. They told me about how they came to be part of the guild, how they helped each other battle their own demons and how the relationships have grown within the guild. I soon forget my life outside of Fairytail. I have never felt more at home in all of my life! This is truly where I belong. I consider everyone in the guild my nakama now and I feel the bond in my new 'family'.

Natsu however keeps challenging me for a fight. Everytime he tries I keep telling him no which in turn means that he fights Gray instead which, I have been told, apparently is a normal occurrence. I promised myself that I would only protect him. I would never cause harm to him if I could ever help it. Natsu has only ever seen me fight when we go on missions together. Even if we weren't on missions, I would do any training needed alone. I didn't like the idea of challenging anyone to a fight unless I was being provoked. Lucy was really helpful and understanding with it. Everytime Natsu got really hot headed, she would always be there to calm him down and explain why I didn't want to fight him. It made me smile when I saw it. He always seems to listen to her and it is somewhat therapeutic. At least I know deep down that Natsu was taken care of all of these years.

Eventually Gray seems to have had enough of Natsu badgering me.

"Instead of fighting Natsu, why don't you fight me? Fire against ice. It's been a few weeks now of Natsu badgering you to fight him and I understand why you don't want to. We all fight together sometimes just to train. We never fight to seriously harm each other." I am currently sitting at a table in Fairytail with Natsu at my side badgering me for the hundredth time today for a fight. My patience was at its peak with him and if I was asked once more I probably would have actually punched him. I love my brother and all but man he can be a right pain!

I look at Gray who is currently sitting opposite me and consider his suggestion. It has been a while since I have had a fair fight. I could do with something to do to get rid of this pent up frustration from Natsu. I smile with glee as I answer.

"Sure."

"What! You'll fight stripper over here but not me! That's not fair!" Natsu protests.

"Natsu. It wouldn't be fair fight anyway. Fire against fire. I don't think anyone would appreciate it if we burnt down the guild if something went wrong by accident!" I answer. Recently I have come to terms with Natsu's destructive nature. It can be quite a pain when we go on jobs together. I feel the worst for Lucy. Out of all of us, she is the one who suffers the most with rent. I'm currently staying with Natsu so I don't have to pay as much rent but everyone else seems to be okay financially.

Gray smiles at me in return. "Great. We'll take it outside. I know just the place"

He walks me outside where I soon find out that word spread very quickly about my choice to fight Gray. We walk for about five minutes where we find a small secluded river bank. There seems to be nowhere in site that could be damaged and there is enough space for us to move around in. I love it! As Gray and I stand in front of each other about ten foot away from each other I try and remember everything that I have learnt about him so far. He is quite sensible when it comes to his fighting. He is very logical and he has to use both of his hands to fight. That is the only weakness I can think of. We are both mentally equal. In a fight I am not so sure. I think Gray pips me slightly but today will solve all of that. There is a small crowd gathered around to watch us. Natsu, Lucy, Erza and Happy have made their way to the front to catch the action. I catch a glimpse at Natsu and I give him a sly smile as if to say 'I've got this'. He puts his hand up to show the Fairytail gesture and I do the same in return. I turn to face Gray.

"Shall we?"

"Let's go! Ice Make Lance!" I hear him shout suddenly and I have to move to get away from his attack.

"Fire sword!" I shout back and attack his lances with my sword. I had recently discovered that my fire magic is called creation magic since I can create objects with my fire.

"Ice Make sword!" He shouts and we both start a duel with our swords. Man this guy is strong! I summon two swords in the hope that it will help me out but it doesn't. I slash one sword across the arm and he moves away as he is suddenly burnt with my fire. I shout out a quick 'sorry' in response.

"Ice Make tiger!" He shouts causing a large ice tiger to come out of nowhere! Shit! I am screwed. I still have my sword in my hand but I try out a new attack that I had been practicing.

"Fire whip!" I shout and a long whip that looks a bit like Lucy's but longer appears in my hand. Gray starts making the tiger run after me and attack me while I am attacking it with my whip. It seems to do the trick because about five slashes later the tiger evapourates! This gives me time to calm down my heart rate! I am shattered already! Maybe it was a good idea to fight with Gray all along. I need to increase my stamina.

"Let's make this quick! Ice Make Prison!" I try to run away from his attack but I suddenly caught in an ice prison! It is huge! I try to burn it with my fire but I don't succeed. I try for my fire sword once more and slash the bottom of the prison where it should be it's weakest point. The next thing I know it evapourates and Gray almost lands on top of me from falling off the prison.

"If you want to make it quick, then let's do this right" I shout back knowing that I am going for Gray's one real weakness. I don't say the incantation out loud to give the element of surprise. The next thing I see is fire coated changes come out of the ground and aiming straight for Gray's wrists successfully grabbing them and pulling them apart so that he is standing upright but with his hands very much spread out wide. I can see him weakening as soon as the chains are attached to him. He looks at me in surprise.

"What is happening! Why do I feel so weak?"

I smile slying back at him. "That's because they are magic draining chains. I developed them last week and I was looking for someone to test them on. Might as well be you since you are here battling me."

I pull out my fire sword again as Gray starts to struggle. He can tell that I have worked out that he needs two hands to his ice magic to work and he knows he is in trouble now. I walk towards him, blocking out the cheers from Natsu and the others. I place my sword up against Gray's neck and look him square in the eye trying to place the fear of God in him.

He stares back at me shocked. He thought he had me but I just proved him wrong. He tries to move his head away from my sword so it doesn't burn him but I keep it there for a few seconds. I can hear people behind me starting to get a little concerned. Am I going to hurt him? Do I really want to cause him harm after spouting all of his nonsense about not wanting to hurt Natsu?

I pull my sword away slightly, I pull my head away from his and put on my sweetest grin.

"I win" I say in the sweetest voice I could manage and start laughing. I stop my magic and release Gray from the chains. Due to the magic being drained from him he drops to his knees in exhaustion. Gray looks up at me and chuckles and I high five him knowing that there are no hard feelings between each other.

"Thanks for the fight Gray. I had fun."

He nods. "You are leathal. Good thing you're on our team. I genuinely thought you were going to slit my throat or something then."

I chuckle. "Of course not. You are my nakama. I would never cause harm to you or anyone here."

The next thing I know I see Natsu running up to me. "Nozomi that was amazing! You really need to fight me now! Shame on you losing to my sister ice-freak! The fire Dragneels rule all!"

I shake my head in disbelief again. I can't believe he calls us that now.

"I could have had her flame-brain! I let her win!" I look back shocked at Gray.

"What! You let me win! That's rubbish I had your arse there"

"Whatever! If I can't beat you then flame-brain surely can't!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too! Watch me!" I wait for a punch from Natsu but the next thing I know, both Gray and Natsu are fighting...again. I lurch forward as I suddenly feel a hard pat on my back. I turn around to see Erza looking at me with a smile.

"Well done. That was a brilliant fight." I thank her as I see Gray and Natsu stop fighting holding each other like friends. I also worked out recently that Gray and Natsu are quite scared of Erza. To be honest I am aswell but I don't think I am that affected by it.

I see Lucy come up to me and grabbing my hands. "That was amazing Nozomi! Well done!"

"Thanks. It's got me worked up now to go on a job. Really want to let off some more steam." I say looking at Natsu with a scowl. Lucy laughs at me.

"Well that's what I was coming over for! We have a mission we all can go on!"

Gray and Natsu stop their fighting again to come over and see the sign. It's a poster for help with a city that is being taken over by a gang of mages.

"Looks like fun. Let's go!" Natsu shouts

"Not now. Let's go in the morning. Looks like it's going to be a long train ride there." We all agree as Natsu scowls. I know he has his motion sickness.

Looks like we're off again on another job!

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and here is another chapter! let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

"Natsu, Gray stop fighting will you! You are scaring the villagers!" I scream at the site I see before me We are currently walking through the village that sent us the request for help against a bunch of bad mages. We are supposed to be looking throughout the village to try and find out where they are based. We keep trying to ask random people in the village for their account of events and from what we can gather, they are terrifying! No wonder the people that we asked almost ran for the hills every time we mentioned that we are mages that were here to help. It took us ages to convince them that we were actually here to help and we were not here to cause terror. Natsu and Gray weren't exactly helping with our case.

Before they could have any retort, Erza shoots them a daring look and they immediately stop fighting. We have been looking around now for quite a few hours so we decide to walk back to the hotel that the mayor of the town let us stay at rent free! There is always a catch of course. We all have to share a room together since the town could not afford to have more than one room spare. It probably was not the best idea for them to do that but apparently everyone has shared a room before on multiple occasions so I wasn't so anxious after a while.

We decided to take it in turns to do night watches. We decided that for a few days we would do boys one night, girls another. It worked out fine when myself, Lucy and Erza were on duty for the night but the night Natsu and Gray were out patrolling together…let's just say that we did not think it through. We woke up the next morning to multiple complaints from villagers saying that they couldn't sleep because of shouting or their house was on fire or icy. It was safe to say that we needed to sort out the groups again and separate the boys.

So tonight it has now changed. Erza and Gray have now joined up for the evening patrol and myself, Natsu and Lucy are up for the night patrol.

"So Lucy. Natsu tells me you are writing a novel. What is it about?" I ask trying to waste some time walking along the high street. Lucy starts to blush.

"Uh… I don't really want anyone to know anything about it until I've finished it. I want to make sure that it is perfect." Lucy answers.

"Oh come on Lucy. Not even a little snippet?" I try. Lucy just shakes her head. Our conversation is suddenly stopped dead by a group of boys who are shouting and cheering to each other. Geez their drunk. We try to keep quiet and just walk past them quietly but they seem to see us and walk towards us.

"Alright ladies! What you doing out here so late at night? Come and have a drink with us?" One man shouts out. I see Natsu clench his fists together getting ready for a fight but I grab his wrist, causing him to look at me and I shake my head to him to calm him down. We agreed that after the Natsu-Gray incident, we would not cause a ruckus unless necessary. We got threatened that we would lose our accommodation and we would not be paid otherwise.

We all tried to ignore them and walk away without causing a fuss but they decided to follow us! Two out of the three drunk boys kept shouting at us for us to join them. They even starting to insult Natsu but somehow Lucy and I managed to keep him under control. That was…. until I felt something hard hit my back…..and everything went black.

Natsu POV

"Nozomi!" I shout grabbing her arm trying to slow down her fall. I turn around to see one of those bastards previously following us holding Lucy up against him with a knife to her neck! I slowly let Nozomi down so she is lying down on the ground safely.

"Lucy!" I shout

"Natsu" She shouts back. I see her trying to catch hold of her keys but she sees one of the other men with them.

"Looking for these?" He asks throwing them somewhere away from us. I refuse to move to get them back. There is only one thought in my mind right now. Get Lucy to safety. Make sure Luce is safe.

Before I can do anything, I am being attacked by two of the bastards. The third is still holding onto Lucy. My sensitive ears can hear her whimpering in fears while I can smell the salt from the tears she is silently crying. Don't worry Lucy. I will save you. It doesn't take me long to defend myself knocking out the two people attacking me. The third holding Lucy laughs as the second guy collapses.

"Just what I expected from you…..Natsu Dragneel." My eyes open in shock as he says my name. How does he know me?

"Who are you?" I shout back trying to keep my distance for now while trying to calculate how to get Lucy away from that guy.

He laughs again. This bastard is starting to annoy me. "It doesn't matter who I am. There is someone else you need to worry about. My master has risen again. You have met him before but not like this. My master will be the end of you Natsu Dragneel."

My blood was starting to boil and my hands were burst into flames. For Lucy's sake, I am currently trying to not attack. I cannot guarantee that I will miss her in my attack so I stay where I am. The bastard then puts her chin in his hands and pulls her face to his. My teeth are grinding together and the fire on my hands gets larger. Get your hands off her! Lucy starts to squirm as her face turns closer to his. Again there is nothing that I can do. I won't miss her if I attack.

"Such a cute girl isn't she Natsu?"

"Lucy!" I start to move forward.

"Tsk tsk Natsu" He says and he throws what looks like a gun shot near me causing me to stand still knowing that Lucy is in more danger. "Here I was thinking you are not interested in anyone. It seems you care about her. Now Master can not have that. We need you as part of our team Natsu and we don't need you distracted." Lucy and I stare back wide-eyed. What? No way on this Earth will I leave Fairytail! What the hell do they mean by 'they don't want me to be distracted'!

"I'll make you a deal. You join us and I'll let this lovely lady here go. I'm feeling nice today."

That's it! "You bastard! I would never leave my nakama!"

He laughed again. "I had a feeling this would happen. So it's good a thing I have a plan B." I see him punch Lucy in the stomach causing her to pass out. As I run to her lying on the floor, I feel a hand on my shoulder and then another on my other shoulder. I look around trying to throw a punch but I can't move! I try to make some fire and I can't even do that! I can't do anything! The next thing I know I see some black fog creeping over me and I am doubled over in agony! In my head I am hearing many things in a very creepy voice.

_"Hello again Natsu. Looks like you've got yourself in a situation here haven't you."_ I discover that I can move my hands and I move them to my head trying to find out what I can do to get rid of this talking in my head.

_"There is no point trying to do anything Natsu. I am here to stay in your head. You might as well accept me. You are going to join me eventually anyway. I can't have you against me so I might aswell have you with me." _

"No!" I shout out to no one in particular hoping that the voices in my head stop.

_"Now now Natsu. Calm down. You don't want anything else to happen to do. You've already caused so much damage in your life so far. You might as well stop all of this"_ I start to see images in my head of Lucy , Erza, Gray, Lisanna, Elfman and everyone else at the guild crying or shouting at me from all of the crazy things I have done over the years. I start to see buildings that I have destroyed or set on fire, people I have defeated over many years. I drop to my knees as all of the emotions from all of the scenes in front of me come up at once. Seeing all of the people at the guild that are disappointed and shouting at me makes me realise all of the bad things that I have done over the years. I know I am a destructive guy. That comes with the nature of being a dragon slayer. I try my hardest not to break stuff but it's always an accident. I can't help it.

_"They can't see your true potential Natsu. They only see you as a destructive good for nothing person. Igneel, your father, even left you. Didn't even say goodbye!"_ I see a picture of Igneel in front of me from my memories. It was when I accidently burnt down part of a forest and he is mad at me too. I try to block it out but the pictures just keep coming and the voices just get louder. Then the picture changes back to my guildmates. _"They can't see what you can really do Natsu. They only pretend to like you since you are so powerful.. I can see what you are truly like. Join me and you no longer have to worry about anything anymore. You don't have to worry about nakama or anyone you previously knew. The girl in your heart you know you care for the most"_ I see a picture of Lucy suddenly appear. I am shocked. I knew I felt something more than like a nakama for Lucy but I didn't really want to do anything about it. I wasn't ready to do anything about it so I ignored it. _"She never really liked you in the first place. She knew you were stupid enough to be there for her. She is spoilt little rich girl who knows that you will save her life without fail. She wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you and she is only pretending to be your friend as a thank you." _

"No!" I scream in protest. I keep hearing everyone shouting to me about how pathetic I am, how I always ruin everything, how I never get anything right. Maybe they are right but I am who I am and I don't care about that.

For a while I am there doubled over in agony. It feels like my bones are scraping together and I have the biggest headache going. I can tell whoever it is that they are trying to take over my mind for even thought I can feel the heaviness of their possession, I hold on for as long as I can against them.

_"Just imagine what it would be like Natsu. Me and you against the world. I am like you. I am an outsider. We both had similar upbringings and we are both hated by the world. We are both destructive so let's be destructive together. Together we would be spectacular! We would be the kings of the whole of Earthland! We would have unlimited power! People would be doing everything for us in a heartbeat! You like your food right? Think of the amount of food we would have at our disposal! It would be unlimited! We would have the world out searching for Igneel! You wouldn't have to search the world singularly anymore! Everyone you know and love would be safe under your protection! Just join me Natsu"_ I feel my power starting to decrease more and more as I fight over and over again to stay sane and not let this bastard in my head! But this is battle I am slowly losing. I am even trying to use the power I have from tomorrow! I can spare it if it means everyone I love is safe.

After a while I lose the battle despite my determination and I pass out from fatigue hearing in my ears.

_"That's a good boy Natsu". _

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oooh whats gonna happen to Natsu! i so sorry was meant to upload this last night but was out! forgive me? please comment, review etc etc! love to all!


	7. Chapter 7

Nozomi POV

Lights are flashing in my eyes and I awake to something cold on my cheek and loud in my ears. I open my eyes to see myself lying face down on the ground. Everything comes back to me. Walking the streets with Natsu and Lucy, the drunken lads, the fight, the pain in my back. I feel around to my back and feel nothing physical there. I must have been knocked out by magic! I look around to see Lucy and Natsu lying unconscious on the ground! Oh no! This could not be happening! I promised Natsu I would protect him and I couldn't do that! I try to shake Natsu awake who suddenly stirs. He snaps his eyes open and looks around to see me. I instantly feel relief.

"Natsu. Are you okay?" I ask. He nods his head and turns to look in Lucy's direction. His eyes open wider.

"Lucy!" He shouts going over to her. He tries to shake her awake and slowly she stirs.

"What happened?" She asks groggily. "All I remember is Nozomi passing out and being held captive by that weirdo"

"That weird guy made you pass out too. I battled the two other guys and knocked them out and when you were knocked out Lucy, I battled the other guy and I passed out too." Natsu explained.

"Did you win?" I asked. I looked around to still see two of the three people knocked out on the floor.

"Where is the third?"

Natsu shakes his head. "I don't remember. I just remember you two passing out, I knocked out those two guys then I passed out too battling the one that was left."

"I'm so sorry! I should have been able to defend you both! Otherwise this wouldn't have happened!" I say with tears running down my face. I shoot my face upwards as I feel Natsu's hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay Nozomi. There was nothing you could do. We are all okay now."

I nod. "Okay. Let's get these two people to the police and collect our money and go home!"

We all nod and make our way to the police station to collect our rewards. They were so happy that they actually doubled the reward money for us! We kept from them that there were three people and one of them ran away however. We didn't want to stay here any longer than we needed to. We all really missed home. We went back to the hotel and told Erza and Gray what had happened and we went on our way home within the hour!

When we arrived back, I never realised how nice it was to come back! For years I had been coming and going in and out of hotels travelling looking for Natsu and now I have somewhere that I can actually call home. I already decided that I would need to have my own place once I get enough money. I had already told Natsu that once we were back I would look for somewhere to stay. It's not that I loved living with Natsu, it was the mess that I can't handle. It is just too much for someone who is a clean freak like I am. It's definitely something he must have picked up from growing up with Igneel.

"But Nozomi!" Natsu pleads for the hundredth time today since this morning. We haven't even left the house yet and he is getting on my nerves! I grab his face in two hands to once again put the point across to him.

"Look" I say looking him straight in the eye while we are nose to nose. "I have to move out. It's not that I don't want to live with you it's the fact that I need my own space. I'm used to living by myself and I like it like that."

Natsu just looks back at me quite defeated. Clearly he still doesn't like the idea.

"Are you moving far?"

I laugh. "I'm still going to be in Magnolia if that's what you mean. I found somewhere near Lucy so I won't be far from somebody from the guild if that makes you feel better."

He nods. I thought I would take the opportunity while I had it. "While I'm on the subject of Lucy… you two seemed very close on the way home from our last mission. I know that you lean your head on her lap when you are feeling your motion sickness but after that on the way home, you two were very…close. Is there something going on between you two?"

Natsu just looked back at me confused. "What? What you do you mean?"

"What do you think of Lucy? Is there something going on between you two?"

Again he just looks confused. "Lucy is my nakama. I don't know what you mean by 'something going on between us'"

I just shake my head in defeat. "Never mind. Come on let's go to the guild."

Once I reach the guild, Natsu goes to get us a couple of beers while I sit down next to Gray and flump my head on the table in defeat.

"What's wrong Nozomi?" Gray asks

I sigh. "Have you ever had a conversation with someone but it just goes in one ear and out the other?"

"You've been trying to have a conversation with Natsu haven't you?" Gray asks. I nod. "What about?"  
I look at him hoping that he is not listening in. The last time I tried to have a private conversation with someone about Natsu he overheard everything. Damn his dragon slayer hearing!

I take a deep breath in. "About…. His relationship with Lucy"

Gray just laughs "Believe me we've all been wondering that same thing for years. Ever since Lucy came back with Natsu to the guild he has been a changed man. He's stopped looking got Igneel and moved on from when we thought Lisanna had died. Both of those things took a real toll on him and when Lucy came here…He just let it all go. Everything became about her. They have been together ever since. I remember one time in particular when Lucy was ill and she wanted to go see a particular Sakura tree that changes colours during a festival that happens here. She was so gutted she couldn't go so he dug it up and put it on a boat so it would sail down the river outside her house."

"That's so romantic! I had no idea he had it in him"

"Me neither, but that's Natsu for you. He always surprises us. But when it comes to Lucy…. He is different man. He's never shown any signs of liking girls except for Lisanna before he 'died'. It's like they say in folklore that when a dragon finds his mate, they stay together for life. Lucy is his mate in my opinion, but the both of them are too blind to see it."

"So you agree that Natsu and Lucy feel something for each other." I ask

"Completely. The whole guild thinks so too I just don't think they know it yet. We were expecting them two to get together years ago. If we didn't have the whole 7 year gap on Tenroujima, honestly I think we all would be with somebody possibly married or even with kids. Who knows?"

I accept this and take this as my opportunity. "Who do you think you would be with Gray?"

He looks at me with a mixture of puzzled and scared. "What do you mean?"

"Would do you think you would be with if the 7 year gap didn't happen?"

He looks away in thought, looks down at his drink in his hand and answers carefully. "I really don't know. I think everyone wants me to get with Juvia. I know that she likes me. It's so obvious with her calling me Gray-sama all of the time but…I just don't know. I promised myself that I wouldn't waste my time with someone if it wasn't going to work. I mean, take Erza. She has this old friend of hers called Jellal who got possessed by an evil spirit called Zeref and she has been constantly trying to save him throughout his life! Those two suit each other so well but they keep pushing each other away."

My eyes immediately start to buldge. "Z….z…..Zeref?"

He looks at me concerned "Yeah the worst mage in the whole of Earthland. He's tried to kill all of us many times but every time we somehow manage to get away. We're always on the lookout for him just in case. Do you know of him?"

I slowly nod my head with previous memories attacking my head making me start to shudder in fear. Why is that man around attacking Fairytail? Before Gray gets a chance to say anything more to me, Natsu turns up and starts another row with Gray while I stare at the table.

Zeref.

Is he here?

Was it some of his followers that attacked us?

Will he ever stop at getting what he wants? I look up at Natsu with pain etched on my face.

I'm so glad you don't know Natsu.

I hope you never have to know what I know.

* * *

So what do think Nozomi is keeping from Natsu? Hope you guys like this chapter! Nozomi is like the new Mira Jane lol

Please review/comment/follow etc Thank you to all of the comments etc that you have said so far! They always bring a smile to my face when I get a new one and they make me want to upload quicker! Three more chapters to go and this story will be over!


	8. Chapter 8

For the next few weeks things were getting…..strange. Natsu was behaving rather abnormally and that is saying something. It started off with him spacing out and talking to himself as if he is answering out loud questions in his head. Then it progressed to him getting angrier than usual. Now it has moved onto him being even more aggressive and trying to distance himself from us. I had moved out a few weeks ago to get away from the aggression but all of us have tried to talk some sort of sense into him. I really don't know what is wrong with him. Even the dragon slayers are starting to get really concerned. I'm currently talking to Lucy, Gajeel and Levy to see if there was a logical explanation in a book somewhere.

"I'm sorry Nozomi-chan but there is nothing in the books that I have read to tell you what is wrong with Natsu." Levy answers.

I am fully at a loss now. "There is one thing I haven't thought of" I suggest

I turn to Gajeel "Gajeel. With dragon slayers, do you all have some sort of….." How do I put this right? "…emotions when you grow up?"

Gajeel laughs "You mean when he hits puberty? Nah. Dragon slayers don't do that. But once they hit maturity that is when mating season occurs."

Levy, Lucy and I look at Gajeel "Mating season?" Lucy asks

Gajeel nods his head. "Natsu is about that age where he would be reaching maturity. If we all didn't have the 7 year skip then he would have hit maturity and probably found his mate by now. It will probably be bunny-girl when he does, but he not showing signs of being in mating season yet." Lucy goes bright crimson with the mention of his nickname for her.

"Uh..uh…uh…I.." Lucy says speechless.

Levy swallows a lump in her throat trying to change the clearly awkward subject. "H..how do you know that the person is going through the mating season?"

Gajeel turns to Levy "The dragon slayer becomes even more protective of the person that they desire as their mate. So much so even that slayers have been known to attack someone if they are just LOOKING at their desired mate. They will be with them constantly trying to being all lovey and shit trying to snatch a kiss or maybe more with their desired mate. The only way for it all to stop would be for the slayer to place a mark on their person once they have verbally agreed to be their mate."

Levy goes bright pink while Lucy and I turn to look at Gajeel. Thinking about it I've never seen Levy without Gajeel or Jet or Droy at her side. Lately it has been mainly Gajeel like he has almost scared the others off. I manage to catch Levy's eye and give her a wink of encouragement. She returns my wink with a small smile.

I thought I would try and stir the pot a bit making Levy blush bright red! "So…have you gone through that yet?"

Gajeel looks taken aback as I ask the question. I hope I haven't taken it too far. "I'm old enough to be going through the mating season but I'm not showing a lot of the signs yet. It only really kicks in during one time of year and we still have time to go before that."

I just nod my head. "Okay so for Natsu it's definitely not a dragon slayer thing that is causing his sudden anger. I just don't get why he is distancing himself from everyone. It's just not like him."

"I agree" Lucy says "The Natsu I know would be trying to break into my window of my apartment every five minutes! I haven't seen him in my apartment for weeks!"

"Wait what?" I ask shocked.

Lucy stutters. "I…I…I thought you knew. Natsu likes to sneak into my apartment mainly through one of my windows. I used to keep them locked but he would always sneak in somehow so I just leave one open now for him to come in. For some reason he doesn't like walking through a door at all."

Gajeel laughs "That sounds like Salamander alright."

"No I didn't know" I answer back ignoring Gajeels quip. "Wow. Aren't you worried that it won't be Natsu crawling through your window at night?"

Lucy smiles "No. He always announces that he is there so I am not fussed. It's quite nice now I've gotten used to it. I think of it as my way of thinking that he cares about me."

I smile back. I like that idea.

"So what is it that is causing Natsu to have those mood swings?" Levy ponders with her finger on her chin to show that she is thinking.

"I don't know but I'm going to go see him again to see if he has snapped out of it a little" I answer

"I'll come with you" Lucy suggests so we both make our way up to Natsu and Happy's house. Poor Happy I have no idea how he is managing to live with Natsu half of the time. To be honest he has spent a lot of time with Charles and Wendy recently. I guess that it is getting to him too.

We both approach the house to shouting and screaming. We both look at each other with concern and race towards the house. When we reached the door, Lucy grabbed one of her keys ready to fight while I put myself into a fighting stance. We listen again to more of the shouting to see if we can work out what we are dealing with.

"Why are you still here! Get out of my head!...You're wrong!...I don't care!...Yes Master…No you're not Gramps! What am I saying? Why are you doing this to me…Yes Master." It was like listening to some who had gone crazy! He was having a conversation with himself! Since when did he call anyone else Master except from Master Makarov? Even then he calls him Gii-chan! Something really isn't right here. Before we knew it we heard screaming coming from inside Natsu's house! We didn't waste anymore time. We ran straight into the house busting the door down to find Natsu doubled over in agony clutching at his head. Lucy ran straight to his side clutching him in a restrained hug trying to calm him down. She looked straight up at me.

"Go get Wendy. I'll be okay here I have my spirits with me. Go!" She shouts and I don't need telling twice. I bolt it to the guild and find Wendy in under thirty seconds.

"What's wrong?" She asks

"I don't know. Natsu is doubled over in pain and before that we heard him talking to himself calling someone else Master in his head! It was so confusing!" I sob trying to keep myself together and not doing a great job at it. Gray is suddenly at my side and pulls me in for a hug.

"Don't worry Nozomi. Where is he?" He asks.

"At his house. Follow me" I say knowing full well that Gray would not sit out of this.

"I'm coming too." Erza insists "We are all part of the same team, we need to know that he is okay" I nod and we run as fast as we can to Natsu's house.

When we arrive it is quiet….too quiet. Gray enters first and stops as soon as he enters the middle of the room. Erza, Wendy and I follow in and I stand there shocked. There is no one there. No lucy, No Natsu. Where are they?

"I swear, they were here!" I look down to point where Natsu was on the ground and there I see Lucy's keys sitting on a piece of paper. I pick them up and start to read it aloud since it is apparently addressed to me.

"Nozomi. I've been trying for years and it takes me to this to get you to join me. Why couldn't you be as compliant as your brother? Meet me in the main park in one hour."

I scream at the sudden realisation of what was going on and who the person is. I drop to my knees and scream bloody murder at the thoughts in my head. No no no no this can not be happening! Not Natsu! Anyone but Natsu. I promised him I would keep him from this! He would stay out of this as long as I protected him!

As I calmed down, my head in my hands covered in tears I feel a pat on my back. I look up to Gray Erza and Wendy looking me concerned. They know nothing of what is about to happen. They don't even need to ask. I know they will ask the question eventually.

"Natsu…..is gone!" I say sobbing once again.

"Where is he? What's happened" Erza demands

I manage to stifle my sobs long enough to tell them the one thing I hoped I wouldn't.

"Zeref has him"

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So there you have it! What do you all think? What do you think is Nozomi's link to Zeref is? Also what do you think of my little hint of Nalu and Gale!

Happy Monday folks (Or as I call it 'Chapter upload day'! For those of you who follow me as an author, I upload three chapters every Monday - one from here, one from 'The Mages' and one from My Vampire Diaries story 'After The Fairy Tales'. Please check them out and let me know what you think if you haven't read them yet!

Thank you to all of you who read, comment, follow and favourite my stories! I really do appreciate the support!


	9. Chapter 9

"What do you mean Zeref has him!" They both demanded but none of them could get me to talk. I just stood up and started running to the park. There was no time for explanations. I arrive to the park with time to spare. I look around and all I can see is Wendy, Charles, Erza and Gray catching up to me. There is nothing out of the norm here. Where are you Zeref you coward!

"Nozomi! What was that about?" Gray shouts at me.

"I have to meet Zeref here in a few minutes. Go back if you must to inform the guild" I say to Wendy and Charles who immediately run off. I turn to the others

"I don't want any of you to be involved with this. Zeref only wants me. You lot stay behind me and don't say a word! I am going to need witnesses and someone to take care of Natsu when we get him back."

"Not on your life!" Gray shouts back at me. "We are family! Nakama! We are in this together or not at all! This is what the guild is all about. I know that you have been on your own for so long but this is the way that we have always worked. One person's problems are the guild's problems. End of"

"Do you ever learn to shut up you baka" Was all that we heard making us turn around and face a black figure walking slowly towards us. The voice was very low and ominous sending shivers up my spine.

"Who are you calling baka?" I hear Gray shout but I don't take it in. I look at the black figure as it makes itself more aware of it's identity and I can hear that voice anywhere.

"Natsu" Is all that I can make out. The others freeze at my realisation of who it is. But it is not the Natsu that we know. As we see him walk towards us, I notice that Natsu is different to how I know him now. It is still spiked up but it is pitch black, his scarf has turned black to match and his clothes are ripped to pieces. I notice that his dragon scales have covered his body and his fangs are fully out like when he is in full dragon slayer mode. But the thing that freaks me out the most of this different Natsu is his eyes. They have no love in them, no niavity, no…..nothing. They are purely blank. In all, this Natsu looks like he was someone to not mess with. Like he was a born fighter belonging to a dark guild. The idea is shaking me to my core. This is what was happening to him all of this time? This new character was trying to take over his mind! Why would Zeref do this? Where is Lucy? Like Erza was reading my mind she suddenly screams out

"Lucy!" and we all turn our eyes south of Natsu. He is holding Lucy in his arms with her body bound in what looks like rope in the form of fire. She looks unconscious and is battered and bruised. She clearly put up a fight before she was knocked unconscious. But why are you holding Lucy like that Natsu? Why the change of appearance? We all gasp as one as Natsu stands beside someone and drops Lucy to the ground with a thud, the fire rope still binding her body.

"What has Zeref done to you Natsu!" I shout before I think of anything else to say.

"Now now Nozomi, is this anyway to talk to your brother like that? Or me for that fact" A man covered in black with a long white wrap around him comes out from behind Natsu and stands beside him. Natsu doesn't even move an inch when Zeref is standing next to him. My body freezes in shock at seeing this man in the flesh! I cry silent tears at the suddenly realisation of having more than one connection with him!

"You!" I shudder Zeref laughs.

"It is me. At last I can see you again Nozomi-san"

"Nozomi how does he know you?" Erza says to me quietly so only I can hear

"He….he attacked mine and Natsu's village" I manage to say, only making the tears come on stronger. A montage of everything I have had to go through with losing Mama and Papa, protecting my brother from this monster and spending all of that time looking for him….only now to have lost him again to the one man I never wanted to see again.

"What do you want with Natsu and Nozomi?" I hear Gray shout out to Zeref. Zeref laughs dripping with evil intent.

"I want them for my army. A fire dragon slayer and his fire wielding sister at his side? We would be unstoppable!" Anger is building up inside of me so I let it out

"I will never join you! You never will have me and I am taking my brother back."

Zeref chuckles again "Oh but my dear…I already have your brother. I just need you to complete the set. I knew of your potential when you both were born. For years I tried to get your Mother and Father to join me so you both could be by my side as my heirs to my empire but they refused…..So I killed them."

"So why try and kill us then!" I shout out "I had to protect Natsu from you and yet you wanted us as part of your army!"

"I knew that you both had potential and I saw you both as a threat. So I tried to kill you before your magic came into play. But of course just in the nick of time you seem to find your magic and bring it out of you to save both of you. So I waited and waited until you were old enough because as they say… if you can't beat them" He says walking over to Natsu and pats him on the head "Join them"

I am officially fuming now "Natsu would never join you on his own free will! What makes you think I will join you when he is like this! You will have to make me like Natsu to join you!"

"But my dear, don't you realise it yet. Natsu is extremely powerful, he was a threat. All he needed was a bit of…..persuasion and he would follow me for all time. Natsu" He says turning to Natsu. "Let's make sure that they know who we are dealing with shall we?"

Natsu nods "Yes Master" It sets us all aback. He thinks Zeref is his master now?

"Natsu! He is not your Master. Think of Gii-chan! Think of Fairy Tail! Snap out of this!" I shout out.

"Fairy Tail means nothing to me now. You were my family but now I have found my own family who understands me. You, my suppose-ed sister, you left me alone in the world to survive for so long when I was just a baby! I was raised by a dragon instead of humans and now because of that, the guild I thought was my family doesn't see me for who I really am. I am a true dragon slayer. I have the power to overcome anything but you all see me as just destructive to others! You all promised me that we would look after each other when we were small and none of you kept to it! I now know what you really think and you all are nothing to me now! Only Zeref can show me my true potential" He says back with a venomous slur.

"Shut up baka! If not us then what about Lucy eh! You told me not long ago that you were in love with her! Has that changed too" Gray shouts making us all look at Gray shocked. Natsu admitted to Gray that he loved Lucy! Oh my God I was right all along! I knew it! We turn to look at Natsu who is looking back at Gray passively. He looks down at the floor at Lucy as if he is contemplating what Gray was saying. Looking at Natsu you can somewhat tell that he is having an internal debate with himself so Gray tries again noticing his twitching body. "Think about what could happen with you and Lucy! If you stay with Zeref then it will never happen! Think about Lucy and snap the fuck out of whatever has happened to you flame-brain!" Gray shouts again trying to try and get a reaction out of him. Natsu is overall shaking. He is clearly trying to overtake whatever possession is involved and Lucy seems to be the key.

"Now now Natsu. Be a good boy and not listen to anything they say. You don't need a guild to survive. You don't need love to survive. You only need power and that is by my side" Natsu's body slowly stops shaking at it looks like the possession has won as he is still the same right now. We need to try and go for something else if Natsu is not going to get out of this.

"Good boy Natsu. Now show me what we think of love in a guild" Zeref says slowly. We watch as Natsu walks over to Lucy. He looks down at her and out of nowhere kicks her in the side making her fly.

We all gasp and scream as Lucy flies through the air towards us. Natsu is now in mid-air going for the next attack on Lucy and this is when I decide to get involved. While Natsu is in mid-air, I intercept and manage to punch him in the face making him jolt sideways. He changes his direction and he is now going for me. Punches and kicks are flying everyone knowing full well that there is no point us using our fire magic on each other since it would actually aid us both in the fight. I feel punch after punch after kick coming my way and I manage to block them all, all the while shouting at him.

"I promised that I would never cause harm to you brother. I love you and I promised that I would not hurt you unless I really needed to. That is what a big sister does for their siblings! We protect them! I have searched too long for you to do that to you" I watch Natsu's reaction and I almost see a break through just like with Gray mentioning Lucy earlier.

"Now I'm going to have to break my promise" I manage to break through Natsu's attacks and punch him hard in the gut and with one final punch slam him to the floor headfirst. I watch as I see an unconscious Natsu in my wake. I approach him slowly as I hear Zeref's voice once more.

"You see Nozomi, you are clearly much stronger than Natsu. Imagine what could happen if both of you were on my side. We would be invincible!"

"Not in our lifetimes!" I shout bending down to cradle my unconscious brother. I manage to turn around in time to realise that Gray is holding an unconscious Lucy. Good he caught her in time. This gives me more strength to know that one of my friends is safe.

"You may have had Natsu for a short time but you took him out of his free will and you would never have me….uncle"

Woah! Who saw that coming! Zeref is Natsu and Nozomis uncle! Two more chapters to go and this story is done! Please check out my other ones too! I promise they dont bite! Thank you so much for your amazing support! I wrote this story about a year ago and I finally decided to publish it and i am so glad that the reaction to this is so positive! please comment, review, follow, etc etc and please come back next week for chapter 10!


	10. Chapter 10

"UNCLE!" I hear Erza and Gray shout back at me.

"Yes. Now you all know. I wanted what my brother had. I wanted a family full of powerful mages! I wanted to take over the world and leave them as my heirs! I wanted you and Natsu! I wanted us to be a family but your precious Father never wanted it. So what are you going to do now eh? Are you going to attack your dear Uncle while your brother and his lover are unconscious. You are bleeding from head to toe right now, I hardly doubt you can barely stand!" He turns to Gray and Erza.

"And you two. The ice-mage and the ex-quip mage. I already know all about you two. I can push you both down with a single finger. So go ahead! Try me! Because you are never going to win!" Zeref shouts and with that Erza and Gray start shooting magic towards Zeref while I put Natsu down out of the way and join in. Fire, ice, swords, kicks and punches are thrown everywhere towards Zeref. I try to hold him down my fire chains that held Gray in our previous match but they do nothing to him, Gray tries to freeze him but he just breaks through and Erza tries to attack with hundreds of swords and multiple armours but to no succession.

We are panting and bleeding profusely trying to forget our current injuries. Looking at Zeref you would think that puppies or small babies have attacked him! He has not even a scratch on him! We are drained of magic but we try to carry on anyway. In a matter of a few minutes, Gray and Erza are unconscious on the floor and I have collapsed. I have landed next to Natsu and I grab his hand knowing that this would be the last time that I would probably do so.

I start to cry knowing that these would be my last few minutes on Earthland. I have nothing left in me to fight, no matter how hard I try. This is it. I am officially going to die, or Zeref is going to wait until I am unconscious and take both myself and Natsu back to be forced to follow him! That is not the life I planned for you Natsu. I wanted to find you, to know that you had a good life and be with you to watch you grow up, find true love, marry a lovely girl – maybe even Lucy, have multiple children and live happily ever after with that life that you deserve! Anything but this! I can feel him walking towards myself and Natsu chuckling to himself.

"At last. You both will be mine!" I hear him and I grab onto Natsu's hand tighter as if he was my lifeline! He is still unconscious but I just have this instinct that he will protect me like all brother's should.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY CHILDREN!" I hear a loud gravely voice shout out. I bring up whatever energy I have left to turn my head and see Master Makarov and what looks like the rest of Fairy Tail and other people that aren't part of the guild in the background. I look carefully and I recognise some of the guild marks. I see the boys from Blue Pegasus and everyone from Lamia Scale, Sabertooth and even Crime Sorcière! They are here! Everyone is here to help! I sigh a silent 'Thank you' to Wendy who must have summoned them all. Zeref looks up to the large crowd surrounding us now. I look around and still see that Erza, Gray, Lucy and Natsu are still unconscious.

"Ah…Makarov! Brought a few of your minions to see the show?"

"You leave my children alone Zeref!"

"Oh Makarov. Don't you already know? Natsu has already joined me. It won't be long before his sister does too and then I will have my complete army! Bow your head to me Makarov and follow me and I'll let Fairy Tail live!"

"We will never join you Zeref! Now let's end this once and for all"

Zeref again laughs "Bring it on!" He shouts throwing his hands in front of him causing a magic circle to form around his feet. Before we all know it, there are hundreds of 15ft black creatures with long muscular arms and legs covered in spikes with claws at the end, large horns on the top of their heads and large fangs appearing out of their wide mouths. They looked lethal but the moment that they appeared all hell seemed to break loose.

"Alright my children! It's now a free for fall but leave Zeref. He is mine!" Master Makarov shouts The sky is suddenly lit up like the night sky with multiple colours from spells coming from every angle possible. With this distraction in the sky, I use this opportunity to get myself closer to Natsu and try to move him out of the way but to no avail. I am just too tired and he is just too heavy.

One by one I see the monsters that Zeref created be defeated only to watch the other mages collapse with them from exhaustion. I watch as Zeref and Makarov battle almost to the death. Again punches, kicks and all forms of magic is thrown around throughout while they are throwing us all around like ragdolls due to the full force of energy running between the two powerful wizards. From what seems like hours later, all of the monsters have been defeated, only to see unconscious bodies scattered everywhere. The only two people left standing are Master Makarov and Zeref who both look like they are on their last batches of energy.

"Let it go Zeref. You are not going to win" Master Makarov shouts at him while trying to catch his breathe.

"Never. I will go until my last breathe." Zeref shouts "Which will now be yours" A shot of magic is trust towards Master Makarov followed by a bright shining light covering my entire vision. The light stays that way for while as I get my vision back slowly, only to see Master Makarov collapsed on the floor unconscious. I scream knowing what was going to come next.

"No!" I shout as I almost seal my fate. Zeref walks towards me as I struggle to clamber over Natsu in a bid to protect him.

"Last chance Nozomi. My niece. Join me."

"Never!" I shout and this time I know what I need to do. I try to gather as much power as possible knowing that I don't exactly have much left. I feel Natsu stir from under my grip as I gather my power.

"N..Nozomi" He mumbles. As he becomes more conscious, I see his hair turn back to it's normal pink, the scales disappear, his scarf turn back to white and most of all, his pupils return to his normal eyes. It is such a relief to see.

"Natsu….Don't say anything. Let me handle this. I need to create a dome that pushes out to Zeref knocking him down. Zeref is weak. I think one more powerful move will kill him."

Before I can say anything Natsu drags himself up and looks at me. "We do this together" With that he grabs my hands locking them in place pushing out whatever magic he has left and I with mine pulling on the magic I have managed to revive so far. We both gather our energy as Zeref runs towards us preparing a big spell to take us out.

With an almighty roar we both shout out "UNISON RAID! FIRE DRAGON MEGA DOME!" causing our surroundings to turn red as we are encased in a massive red dome set on fire. With one large bout of magic, we both send it out as fast as we can towards Zeref hitting him full on. This lasts for quite a while as we bring out every last bit of magic possible created from the adrenaline of the fight and the fear of dying.

All we can hear are Zeref's cries. All we can see is red and flames surrounding us. All we can feel is the magical link and the physical link between our hands as the unison raid takes its full effect. We keep going until we are exhausted. The cries have died, the flames have started to go out and we are left holding onto each other's hands, staring at each other directly.

"I love you brother" I say before everything turns black.

What do you all think? I don't normally write fight scenes so I hope that this is good. Thank you all so much for reading this story! I love that I can get this one out of the public since I've had this idea for a while.

Please don't forget to comment, PM, review, follow or favourite this story! Every action done gives me more inspiration to carry on! There is only one more chapter now for this story so thank you so much for reading this far! Will see you all next Monday morning (GMT time) for the final chapter of 'For The Love Of Family"

Because I feel like I need to write this now - Disclaimer:I am not Hiro Mashima! I don't own any characters or ideas of characters linked to Fairy Tail. I do however own the story idea and Nozomi!


	11. Chapter 11

I feel numb. All I can see is white light behind my eye lids. I have no energy left in me to move. Am I dead? I listen around and I don't hear anything except from a slow beep from something nearby. Beep…beep…..beep is all that I can hear.

I try to open my eyes but they feel so heavy. I decide to lie wherever I am for a few minutes before I try again. I feel around me. The last place I was, there was harsh ground and rubble everywhere from the fight but wherever I am right now is soft. I feel a soft fabric covering me, I feel my head sinking on something really soft and I feel my hands on a soft material. Am I in a bed?... How did I get here?

My mind flashes to what had happened with Zeref. Then I get a flashback of Natsu. Natsu! Oh no! Is Natsu okay? Did Zeref die? Has he taken us?

"Natsu!" I shout out sitting up. All I can see is white. White walls, one window with a bright blue sky outside, white furniture…..and a white bed opposite me. I look at the white bed opposite me and I notice a small boy lying in the bed. He looks so small but he is covered in bandages and has an arm in a sling. In between the bandages of his head I can see a slight bit of pink hair. It's like Natsu's pink hair. It must be Natsu! I try to move but I can't seem to move from my position.

It is like I am frozen witha mixture of shock and relief. Natsu is fine he is alive. He has a machine that is showing his heart beat! He is fine. With that I relax and let a monsoon of tears that I didn't know were there cascade down my eyes, not bothering to wipe them away. My brother is safe. I am safe. I observe my surroundings even more. I am in a hospital. I am safe! My brother and I are safe! I didn't notice that there was someone sitting next to Natsu's bed until I see a whip of blonde hair turn to face me. I recognise the girl as Lucy who is sporting her own injuries with bandages and plasters everywhere. I look at her holding Natsu's hand comforting him and I smile.

"Welcome back" I turn my head to the end of the bed as I see Gray, Erza, Master Makarov, some random guy I've never met before and a few others from the guild. They are all looking at me with big smiles on their faces, clearly happy to see me awake. I smile back not knowing what to say first.

"Zeref?" I ask thinking that should really be my first priority since I know Natsu is safe.

"He's dead. We found his body where you and Natsu attacked him." I feel an immediate weight that I've had on my shoulders for over 20 years lift off me and my tears start anew. I am free! Zeref is dead! After a few minutes I continue.

"How long have I been out?" I feel the sudden need for a glass of water, my mouth feels terribly dry.

"You and Natsu have been here for almost a week. Natsu woke up a few days ago but we had to make him go to sleep because he was so worried about you not waking up." Master Makarov says. I feel something in me pull slightly. Natsu cares for me!

"What happens now?" I ask. I know the council are going to be furious!

"I have informed that council of what happened. They were surprised we could take him to be honest. Everyone who participated are alive and on the mend. You were the last one to wake up out of everyone actually. The council understands our reasoning for what happened and have pardoned us on the matter since it got rid of him….Now we go back to normal. There is no Zeref anymore, but there will always be other bad guys to get rid of, jobs to go on and stopping Natsu from burning everything down" Master Makarov explained making me laugh at the last comment about Natsu.

"Hey Gii-chan! I'm not that bad!" I hear a weak voice coming from Natsu's bed and I see him sitting up looking at me. When did he wake up! I smile at him.

"Welcome back you bad-ass brother of mine. Feel like yourself now?" I joke He gives me a large toothy grin to show that he is alright.

"As long as you're okay, I'll be good" I nod. My brother is safe and so is the guild. My family. I turn to look at the others as I give myself a self-checkup. My right hand is in operation but covered in bandages but I feel this move is necessary. Close my fingers together except from my thumb and forefinger and hold it up in the air showing the Fairy Tail sign. The others in the room smile with me and follow me.

This is my guild. These are my family and friends. These are the people that I can now live my life with laughing and joking. I look over at Natsu and Lucy who are holding hands while showing the Fairy Tail sign. I smile at them knowing that there could only be great things from them. I just hope that the boy does something about it soon. As I hold my hand up in the air showing my passion and love for this bunch of crazy misfits that I call my family, I think about the journey that I have gone on and how far we all have come. Losing Mama and Papa who I hope are happy wherever they are in heaven, Losing Natsu and spending many years finding him again, losing him for a second time to our life long enemy along with Lucy, battling Natsu, then battling Zeref with Natsu, to finally getting rid of him once and for all. I laugh to myself. If there was any doubt that I was 'Sister of the Year' I think that proved that I would go to the ends of the Earthland and risk my life for my brother and his nakama to see him happy again. It's funny really when you think about the things you would do. For the love of family.

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There you go! This is the final chapter for 'For The Love Of Family'! Thank you so much to all of you who have read, commented, favourited, followed and PM'ed me about this story! Please do the same for this chapter! I want to know that I ended it in the right way! I'm also sorry if it seemed a little soppy - it was what I was feeling at the time (of course while watching Fairy Tail aswell which did influence the soppiness haha)

Well...now that's over! It's time for a new story! Send me in your requests if there is something in particular you would like to read! Do you want another OC involved?

Thank you all again so much! I'm so glad that this story worked! I normally write Nalu fics so it's nice to do something without a love story involved and bringing in different characters! Plus this story had been bugging me for a long time so I'm glad I got it out!

I have deleted the SOPA page so I'm sorry if this has confused anyone at all with the chapter updates! We got enough signitures so thank you to all who signed it! Fanfics are saved! See you all next time love to all!

CANT WAIT FOR APRIL! BRING ON FUTURE LUCY AND THE REST OF THE GRAND MASTER GAMES!


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